|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 16.30 Miles |
3,000 AEG |
| | Hiking | 16.30 Miles | 8 Hrs 39 Mns | | 2.59 mph |
| 3,000 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 21 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Partners |
|
none
[ show ]
| no partners | | I have wanted to do this hike, and I decided to do the loop clockwise so as to go down, instead of up, Promontory Trail #278 -- I think that was the right call.
Starting at the Horton Creek TH, Tracie, my intrepid hiking partner, and I travelled on Horton Creek Trail #285 to get to Horton Spring, and then took the Horton Springs Trail #292 to get up to Rim Road 300/General Crook Trail #140. Then we went east on the General Crook Trail for a little over 2 miles, and then took an easy jaunt through the forest to get to Forest Road 276. We then took that to the Promentory TH, and then went to the SE to get over to Promentory Butte. At the Butte we stopped at the point where we saw a survey marker and the logbook that had been placed there by Joe Bartels back in 2003. From there we went SE to where the Butte juts out a bit, and saw 2 other survey markers. Then we backtracked back to the Promentory TH, and descended down to the Highline Trail on the very steep Promentory Trail #278. Then we turned left on the Highline Trail and after about 3/4 mile we took the Derrick Trail back to the Horton Springs TH.
As advertised, all but 2 miles of the hike are on easy to moderate trails. The exceptions are the Horton Springs Trail #292 and the Promontory Trail #278. I had never been on the Horton Springs Trail, and it was easier than I thought that it would be -- the footing was mostly pretty good and the trail was generally easy to follow. But it was fairly steep, gaining around 1,200 feet over 1.2 miles. I had been up and down the Promontory Trail before, and it does not get any easier. This is a primitive trail that is poorly maintained, is hard to follow, is very steep (you go down 1,150 feet in 0.8 miles), has poor footing on much of the trail, and there is a lot of deadfall to negotiate. Other than that, it is a delightful trail to hike!
Virtually all of the elevation gain on this hike is in the first 5 miles. In looking at a map, I could have shortened the distance by a mile or more by exiting the General Crook Trail sooner, and by not taking Forest Road 76 all the way to the Promontory TH and then backtracking back to Promontory Butte.
We saw a couple of people on the Horton Creek Trail who were camping; other than that, we did not see anyone else all day.
|
| _____________________
| Civilization is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there |
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
. The Derrick Trail was muddy in spots. The steep Promontory and Horton Springs trails were in reasonable shape considering all of the rain up here. The Horton Creek trail was perfect as always. While I saw quite a few campers on Promontory Butte, I didn't see another hiker until I reached Horton Springs.
